|
Post by Sandbur on Mar 27, 2023 12:59:47 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Sandbur on Mar 27, 2023 13:03:48 GMT -6
Can I just say I did this to protect the farmstead plum from browsing? I also took the top out of one spruce and all of the branches off of the side of another. Oh well, they are wildlife trees.
|
|
|
Post by benmnwi on Mar 27, 2023 14:24:43 GMT -6
Well at least I'm not the only one who occasionally has a tree fall and land where it isn't supposed to.
Did the deer clean out all of your corn already?
|
|
|
Post by Sandbur on Mar 27, 2023 19:44:59 GMT -6
Well at least I'm not the only one who occasionally has a tree fall and land where it isn't supposed to. Did the deer clean out all of your corn already? it is pretty much gone except what was covered by drifts. As the snow melts they might find a bit of corn.
|
|
|
Post by honker on Mar 27, 2023 21:57:52 GMT -6
I was snowshoeing with the chainsaw Sunday as well. Putting some food on the ground and creating some space for the Oaks. Put a gallon through the buckthorn sprayer as well. Somewhat hard to see but there was a Swamp White, a Red, and Pin in a row with decent spacing, almost like they had been planted there.
|
|
|
Post by Sandbur on Mar 29, 2023 10:32:02 GMT -6
I wish I had 8-10 mature Courthouse Crabs right now. You can see from the blotches on the sidewalk that it is still dropping. I only have fruit left on one flowering crab and the deer visit it daily. As well as other critters.
|
|
|
Post by benmnwi on Mar 29, 2023 11:32:49 GMT -6
That courthouse crab is impressive. I'm going to graft a few of them this spring and hopefully I'll have a solid late season food source in a decade.
|
|
|
Post by smsmith on Mar 29, 2023 11:47:03 GMT -6
Courthouse Crab almost always still has some fruit at the end of the first week of April or later. Given this winter, I won't be surprised to see a few hanging at the end of April.
|
|
|
Post by benmnwi on Mar 29, 2023 11:52:09 GMT -6
Courthouse Crab almost always still has some fruit at the end of the first week of April or later. Given this winter, I won't be surprised to see a few hanging at the end of April. This winter confirmed that I need to improve my late season apple options for the deer. I cleared a section this winter that should give me room for another dozen apple trees and most of them will be late droppers. How does the Tank crab compare to the courthouse crab as far as drop time and quantity?
|
|
|
Post by smsmith on Mar 29, 2023 12:01:42 GMT -6
Courthouse Crab almost always still has some fruit at the end of the first week of April or later. Given this winter, I won't be surprised to see a few hanging at the end of April. This winter confirmed that I need to improve my late season apple options for the deer. I cleared a section this winter that should give me room for another dozen apple trees and most of them will be late droppers. How does the Tank crab compare to the courthouse crab as far as drop time and quantity? The Tank mother tree is much larger, so quantity isn't a fair comparison. Both bear heavily for their sizes. I haven't driven past Tank for a week or so. Last time I did it still had a bunch of fruit hanging and a bunch on the ground as well. It's in town, so the fruit goes to waste. I've watched that tree since moving here and it almost always has fruit until the first week of April too. It bore so heavily last year it has a bunch of broken branches now. C.C. fruit is larger than Tank fruit. Both should be great winter/late winter food sources. I haven't tasted C.C. Tank is almost certainly a named crab of some sort. It is ripe towards the middle/end of September, sweet/tart, crispy, juicy, with some tannins but not enough to make your mouth pucker.
|
|
|
Post by benmnwi on Mar 29, 2023 12:27:33 GMT -6
If my rootstock arrives as planned and my grafting skills haven't declined, I should have a decent chance to add a number of Tank and Courthouse Crabs to my orchards. I have some of each already, but it would be nice to have a few in the back of my property where deer are more comfortable feeding.
|
|
|
Post by benmnwi on Mar 29, 2023 18:43:29 GMT -6
This winter confirmed that I need to improve my late season apple options for the deer. I cleared a section this winter that should give me room for another dozen apple trees and most of them will be late droppers. How does the Tank crab compare to the courthouse crab as far as drop time and quantity? The Tank mother tree is much larger, so quantity isn't a fair comparison. Both bear heavily for their sizes. I haven't driven past Tank for a week or so. Last time I did it still had a bunch of fruit hanging and a bunch on the ground as well. It's in town, so the fruit goes to waste. I've watched that tree since moving here and it almost always has fruit until the first week of April too. It bore so heavily last year it has a bunch of broken branches now. C.C. fruit is larger than Tank fruit. Both should be great winter/late winter food sources. I haven't tasted C.C. Tank is almost certainly a named crab of some sort. It is ripe towards the middle/end of September, sweet/tart, crispy, juicy, with some tannins but not enough to make your mouth pucker. What is the lpvfw crab like compared to tank and courthouse? I saw a lpvfw label tonight and I couldn’t remember what that one was
|
|
|
Post by smsmith on Mar 29, 2023 18:52:43 GMT -6
The Tank mother tree is much larger, so quantity isn't a fair comparison. Both bear heavily for their sizes. I haven't driven past Tank for a week or so. Last time I did it still had a bunch of fruit hanging and a bunch on the ground as well. It's in town, so the fruit goes to waste. I've watched that tree since moving here and it almost always has fruit until the first week of April too. It bore so heavily last year it has a bunch of broken branches now. C.C. fruit is larger than Tank fruit. Both should be great winter/late winter food sources. I haven't tasted C.C. Tank is almost certainly a named crab of some sort. It is ripe towards the middle/end of September, sweet/tart, crispy, juicy, with some tannins but not enough to make your mouth pucker. What is the lpvfw crab like compared to tank and courthouse? I saw a lpvfw label tonight and I couldn’t remember what that one was The LPVFW mother tree got cut down a couple years ago. It was a large tree, similar in size to Tank. The fruit was also similar in size to the Tank fruit, and both ripened in September. I didn't get to watch the mother tree for as many years, but it too held fruit into winter. I don't think as long as Tank, but at least into January I'd say. I would say that it is also a named variety of crab. The fruit was similar in taste/texture to Tank, but I'd say a bit sweeter and maybe even fewer tannins. It also is more red/orange than Tank. Tank is more yellow/orange. Both Tank and LPVFW would be decent for fresh eating, and likely good additions to cider. A few years ago, I grafted Trail, Trailman, Schafer, and Anaros crabs from GRIN. I was thinking that Tank and LPVFW might each be one of those varieties. The only graft I have remaining for sure (lost the tags on a couple) is Trailman, and neither are that variety (though both fruits are similar in size/shape and somewhat in flavor). I'd like to source Trail, Anaros and Schafer scions again someday, but I'm done requesting stuff from GRIN. Maybe Temperate Orchard Conservancy carries them. I didn't check this year.
|
|
|
Post by Sandbur on Mar 29, 2023 19:08:27 GMT -6
What is the lpvfw crab like compared to tank and courthouse? I saw a lpvfw label tonight and I couldn’t remember what that one was The LPVFW mother tree got cut down a couple years ago. It was a large tree, similar in size to Tank. The fruit was also similar in size to the Tank fruit, and both ripened in September. I didn't get to watch the mother tree for as many years, but it too held fruit into winter. I don't think as long as Tank, but at least into January I'd say. I would say that it is also a named variety of crab. The fruit was similar in taste/texture to Tank, but I'd say a bit sweeter and maybe even fewer tannins. It also is more red/orange than Tank. Tank is more yellow/orange. Both Tank and LPVFW would be decent for fresh eating, and likely good additions to cider. A few years ago, I grafted Trail, Trailman, Schafer, and Anaros crabs from GRIN. I was thinking that Tank and LPVFW might each be one of those varieties. The only graft I have remaining for sure (lost the tags on a couple) is Trailman, and neither are that variety (though both fruits are similar in size/shape and somewhat in flavor). I'd like to source Trail, Anaros and Schafer scions again someday, but I'm done requesting stuff from GRIN. Maybe Temperate Orchard Conservancy carries them. I didn't check this year. I have one graft labeled as anaros. I think it had an apple or two last fall and I wasn’t impressed. With some of these trees, I can’t tell if my graft took or it was rootstock. I could strip off the window screen and check.
|
|
|
Post by Sandbur on Mar 30, 2023 13:42:12 GMT -6
I put one tank of gas through the chainsaw today and released some spruce, as well as putting browse on the ground. I have stayed out of the main woods, but worked the periphery. In open country, the deer and I both can walk on top of the crust. It has actually been far easier to do chainsaw work than after the snow is gone.
|
|